Emergence Read Online Free Page A

she went.
    After lunch, Emma laid Jake down for a nap and contemplated how to spend the rest of the afternoon. At the moment, she needed to figure out what to do about her job. Jake needed her. Once he fell asleep, she sat down at the computer and tweaked her resume. On Monday, she would search for a new job.
    The doorbell rang and her heart jumped into her throat. Closing her eyes, she told herself to calm down. She may have bought a gun earlier, but she didn’t have to give in to total paranoia. She opened her eyes and jumped with a shriek.
    Jake stood three feet in front of her, pale and wide-eyed. “They’re here.”

 
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
    Her heart raced. “Who’s here?” she wheezed out.
    “The bad men,” he whispered.
    Her gun was in her bedroom, but it was broad daylight. She shook her head. She was losing it. “Jake, sweetie, go back to bed.”
    He stood in place as if frozen. At the moment, his demeanor worried her more than who might be at the door.
    “Jake?”
    He continued to stare, his eyes glazed.
    The doorbell rang again, followed by pounding. “Ms. Thompson,” a male voice called out. “This is Child Protective Services. We know you’re in there. We need you to answer the door.”
    “Jake!” She shook his arms gently, scared that he was still unresponsive. In elementary school, Emma had a friend who had grand mal seizures, and she looked a lot like this. Maybe Jake was having a seizure. She wasn’t sure whether to be happy to have a possible explanation or be frightened. Right now she needed to worry about the people on her doorstep. If it really was the CPS, she didn’t want them seeing Jake like this.
    Scooping him in her arms, she carried him to his room and laid him down, covering him with the blanket. She hated to leave him, but worried they’d break in the door if she didn’t answer.
    Closing Jake’s door, she went to the front entrance and peeked through the sheers on the sidelight window. Two men stood on the front porch, both wearing suits. She opened the door, leaving the locked storm door shut.
    “Can I help you?” she asked through the screen.
    The smaller man frowned. “Emma Thompson?”
    Her heart raced, thumping into her chest wall. “And who’s asking?”
    “We’re with Child Protective Services. We’d like to come in and see your son.”
    Her fingers gripped the edge of the doorjamb. “Do you have badges?”
    He looked at his partner, then back at her. “We don’t carry badges, ma’am.”
    “Then do you have any kind of papers or name tags?”
    He hesitated for a moment, just long enough for Emma to realize he was about to do something.
    She slammed the door shut, barely closing and locking it before his hand pushed through the screen. Running to her room, she pulled her laundry hamper in front of the shelf in her closet, climbing up and pulling down the box with her gun. The container was locked and the gun was unloaded. She’d never have it ready in time.
    Grabbing the phone, she dialed 911 and ran into the kitchen to grab a knife. Through the living room window, she saw the two men dart around the corner of the house. Toward Jake’s room.
    “Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
    Jake still lay on the bed, unresponsive. Emma tried to control her rising panic.
    “What’s your emergency?”
    “Uh…” She took several breaths. “There’s two men. They’re trying to break into my house.”
    “What’s your address, ma’am?”
    “Thirty-twenty-two Forest Road. Please hurry. They want my son.” Her voice broke as she sat on the bed, putting herself between Jake and the window. The men’s silhouettes appeared against the drawn curtains.
    “We’re sending someone now. Just stay on the line until the officers get there.”
    “Please hurry. Please .” She’d never felt more helpless or terrified in her life.
    Soon sirens whined in the distance, and the figures darted away from the window. Within a few minutes, there was more pounding